‘Seinfeld’ for $500 million? ‘The Big Bang Theory’ for $1 billion? The streaming arms race has a big problem.

September 19, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld walks the red carpet at the Kennedy Center in 2018. His show “Seinfeld” is one of several programs commanding astronomical prices from streaming services. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

The numbers are enough to make you think it’s 1995 and George is first getting mad at Jerry for breaking their pact.

This week, Netflix paid a reported $500 million for streaming rights to all 180 episodes of “Seinfeld.” A day later, Warner Media, looking to beef up its imminent HBO Max service, paid a reported $1 billion for streaming rights to the nearly 300 episodes of “The Big Bang Theory.” This came on top of the estimated $425 million the company already paid for “Friends.”